Throughout the history of Europe there have been specific classes dedicated to song and musical amusement. The Roman name for a member of such a class was Joculator, which implies a comic element in the entertainment offered.
From this word came the French Joglar, later Jongleur, and the English Juggler. By the fourteenth century in France a new term was coined for the more serious of the musician class. This was Menéstrier and, for the first time, denoted the idea of a professional musician.
From this term grew the word Menéstrel. The close relations between England and France in medieval times explain its English appropriation as minstrel. Guilds of minstrels were formed in London as early as 1350 and continued for centuries.
Between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries in France, a separate class of singers/musicians arose, known as troubadours and trouvères.
